Thank you for all the wonderful support!
You guys truly are wonderful!
I know that the last chapter sort of turned a lot of things on their head.
Thank you for sticking with me through it! I promise, good things are coming for Harry and company!
I'm trying to be more frequent and make up for all the time I've taken off between chapters.
I hope you all enjoy this new chapter.
As per usual, I sadly own nothing.
Harry stood in the middle of a circular chamber on a dais, nervously clenching and unclenching his hands. "So how does this work?" He asked as he looked down into a stone pool in the center of the dais.
"You need to remove your clothing then step into the pool and lie down. It's shallow, only a foot deep, so don't worry about drowning." Ragefist explained. "It is filled with a potion that will purify your blood and body. Though I warn you, this will not be easy and it will be painful. These things effecting you have been in place for the vast majority of your life and have spent so long within you that they have bonded with you on an almost molecular level. However, I assure you this is for the best."
Harry nodded and began to do as instructed. A wave of insecurity hit him as he removed his shirt and dropped it to the floor. No one, aside from Hermione, had seen the full extent of the scars on his body.
"I know this will sound childish, but can you turn your backs?" Harry asked, a little of that insecure boy he once was seeping back into his voice.
"Until you're in the pool, yes Heir Black." Ragefist said and turned around to face away, motioning for the others to do the same.
Hermione had seen all there was to see but didn't want to make this any harder on Harry than it had to be so turned around as well.
Neville, who had stayed close to Hermione, followed suit.
Soon Harry was stripped and stepping into the pool of liquid. It wasn't cold as he had expected, slightly warm which was a little surprising. The black liquid lapped sluggishly at his pale skin and seemed to be a bit more gelatinous than normal potions. Sitting down in the center of the pool, the potion came up to cover his legs and, for which he was eternally grateful, his lap. Harry took one last deep breath and then lay back until the potion was covering all of his body except for his face and then called out. "Alright, I'm in."
"Good, now we will begin." Ragefist said and nodded to the other goblins around the room. They all moved forward toward the dais and stood circling Harry just outside the pool. Looking over to the young companions, Rage fist spoke quickly. "Do not step forward while we work. Stay where you are or the guards will remove you. We cannot be disturbed. Nothing, and I do mean nothing will be allowed to interrupt the ritual. Doing so could have serious consequences." After receiving a nod of understanding from both Gryffindors, Ragefist turned back to the task at hand.
He looked around the circle of goblins questioningly and received a nod from each of them in turn. Ragefist nodded and the chanting began.
Apelăm elementele în această oră
Chemăm aerul care ne dă suflare
As the words filled the air in an ancient language neither teenagers watching could identify they heard Harry gasp, heard the potion slosh slightly as he jerked against whatever he felt.
A tingling sensation that had begun to crawl across Harry's skin with the first couple of words became a stabbing as the goblins continued their work
Apelăm la apa care ne dă viață
Chemăm pământul de unde venim
A yelp came from Harry as he felt the stabbing intensify. He did his best to hold in the sounds as the sound of the incantation grew louder in his ears.
Apelăm focul care ne încălzește
Chemăm spiritul care stă în noi toți
Harry whimpered as a burning sensation began to flow through his veins. It felt as though someone had injected firewhiskey directly into his veins.
The sound of pain coming from Harry ripped at Hermione's heart. She shifted to go to him on instinct but caught herself remembering what Rage fist had said before beginning this process.
Vă chemăm să vă purificați acest corp
Îndepărtați sângele de impurități
That burning sensation increased tenfold as well as the stabbing sensation and both grew deeper and deeper into his body. The pain felt as though it went all the way down to his bones. Harry couldn't hold it in any longer and yelled. He yelled out in pain but that gave him no relief, it felt as though with every moment he was going to combust and be in bloody ribbons at the same time.
This was getting harder and harder to watch. Both Neville and Hermione were having trouble keeping themselves in place as the sounds of pain grew louder and louder. Neville ended up with his arms around his friend, holding her to him so she couldn't run to Harry. He could see in every line of her body that she was aching to run pull him out of the pool and make the pain go away. But this was necessary. They had to get anything effecting Harry out of him for good.
Ridicați corpul de state nenaturale
Curățați sângele să curgă liber
Curățați corpul să trăiască în întregime
Harry couldn't take any more and gave himself over to the pain, letting out a bloodcurdling scream as the chanting came to a crescendo and the sensations seemed to triple and then quadruple and then triple again. He was certain that he was being flayed, burned alive, and ripped apart at all at once. He was dying. He knew it.
Another shriek pierced the air and the potion sloshed roughly as Harry's body arched violently up. He could feel his bones shifting, his body changing, his skin growing tighter.
A pulse of magic went through the air as the ritual ended, the potion now with a sickly green color streaking its surface. Slowly the potion drained out of the pool, leaving an almost completely dry and very different young man in the center.
Ragefist stepped forward and looked down at Harry who was panting and whimpering softly as small aching waves continued to run through him. "Give it a few moments Heir Black, with removing the Faciem domus potion will have changed your body physically. You will now revert back to your former appearance, what you would have grown up as had you not been wearing what amounts to a semi-permanent glamour."
Harry nodded and slowly pushed himself to sit up. The first thing he noticed was the long thick hair that fell forward around his face. Opening his eyes he saw that it looked soft and reach to touch it, pleasantly surprised when it was just as soft as it looked. Catching sight of his hands in this process, he saw that gone was the quidditch tanned skin, replaced by a pale complexion. He also noted the lack of a scar on the back of his hand and looked up at Ragefist in confusion.
"My scar is gone." He says and uses his other hand to point to the place where "I must not tell lies" once rested.
"That was scarred into a body that is no longer yours." Replied Ragefist. "Think of it as though that scar was on a skin that you shed and now is no longer there on this new skin. Similar to a snake." He finished.
"Oh." Was all the young raven said. 'That means all the other scars are gone too.' He thought to himself.
Moving to stand up, he felt a bit unsteady on his feet, and had to catch himself from stumbling.
"That will happen." Ragefist explained, seeing the impared balance issue. "As well as removing the glamour, the potion works to give you the body you were supposed to have. You've grown a few inches and have put on a bit of muscle mass."
Harry then took a moment to look down at his body. Ragefist was right. He was surprised to see that his body, while still lean, was much more toned and defined.
"Mirror?" He asked, realizing that his voice had changed, slightly deeper with a much more silky quality.
Ragefist nodded and pointed behind the young man who turned to follow his direction.
Catching sight of himself in the mirror was an odd experience. Logically he knew that the image he was seeing was him, but it was hard to believe. His hair was long, reaching just below his shoulder blades, thick, and completely straight. What once was an unruly black bird's nest was now a silken curtain of onyx with a very faint bluish tint when the light hit it. He could no longer see the evidence years of abuse, neglect, and malnutrition had left him with. He looked healthy and strong. His pale skin clear and flawless. He had higher, more defined cheekbones and a less prominent nose. His eyes, which everyone had always told him looked just like his mother's, were no longer emerald green. Now, he had bright, electric blue eyes that were framed by a pair of thick black lashes. Another realization hit him as he was looking over his new appearance. He wasn't wearing his glasses. Apparently the potion had corrected his vision as well. All in all, he now looked as though he was Heir to nobility. Gone was the scrawny runt and in his place was a tall, elegant looking young man.
A soft gasp pulled him from his musings and he turned to face his companions, his nudity forgotten in the face of this shocking new appearance.
"Hi…" Harry said anxiously, worried about their, especially Hermione's, reaction to the changes in him.
Hermione moved forward and gently touched his face, running her fingertips over his features as though to memorize them. "Hi…" she said gently, a soft smile gracing her lips.
"Wow mate." Said Neville, stepping forward and handing the young man a pair of trousers. "That's a drastic change."
Harry blushed realizing he was still standing there stark naked in a room full of goblins and gratefully took the clothing. "Thanks." He said and hurriedly pulled them on. With his new height, they were rather short on him.
"We're going to need to get you new clothes." Said Hermione with a slight giggle.
"Yeah, I guess." He replied.
"We need to be getting on with the rest of your business Heir Black." Ragefist said, pulling the three teenagers back to the reality of the situation.
"Right." Replied Harry, Nodding and pulling on his shirt which was now dangerously tight. "Let's get the rest handled. We need to be gone from here soon. We were told to be as quick as possible."
"We can do the rest relatively easy. Follow me back to my office." Ragefist said and turned to walk out of the ritual chamber.
A.N.: The ritual is said in Romanian. For those of you who may speak Romanian, I apologize for any inaccuracies and/or horribly messing up your language. I used Google Translate for the translations. Below is what I translated so feel free to correct my translations and I will happily update the story to reflect those corrections!
We call upon the elements in this hour
We call upon the air which gives us breath
We call upon the water which gives us life
We call upon the earth from which we come
We call upon the fire which warms us
We call upon the spirit which resides within us all
We call upon you to purify this body
Rid the blood of impurities
Rid the body of unnatural states
Clean the blood to flow freely
Clean the body to live wholly